How was your weekend? Mine was fabulous, I gotta say!
I spent last Friday through Monday in Washington State. I’ve never been before. Well, unless you count that time I drove across the Oregon border to bungee jump off Mount St Helens twice in 2007, but the point is, I’ve never really fully explored the state.
And boy, did I enjoy my visit! Washington is beautiful, and with a few days in Seattle and a day in Fidalgo Island, I felt like I got to soak a lot in. Plus, I got to see old friends and make new ones, and connect with lovely colleagues and conference attendees.
But why was I in Washington? Well, I was there speaking at the V-WISE (Veteran Women Igniting the Spirit of Entrepreneurship) Conference on Sunday morning of the 3 day event. My keynote was titled “Just Roll With It for Healthy Leadership,” the cornerstone of which is effective self-care. AKA: “Put your oxygen mask on first before assisting others!”
After the conference wrapped up, I headed out to the countryside of Fidalgo Island to meet the owners of Thrive Community Fitness in Oak Harbor to discuss the details of bringing the Just Roll With It Bootcamp to their patrons – both civilian and veteran – staff, friends, and colleagues in 2014. Exciting stuff!
Anyway, the whole weekend served to re-remind me of 3 critical components of self-care that I know will be helpful for you, too.
Because if we burn out, even if in the name of service, what good are we to anyone when we cannot then effectively serve, work, lead, or love because we are foggy-brained, depressed, stressed out, or in pain?! C’mon folks, you know better, so lets do better! 🙂
The three simple reminders are:
1. “Just breathe” – we’re not super-human. Chill out. Take a moment. BREATHE.
Think you don’t have time or money to work on yourself? I call bull$hit on that one, folks. If you only spent 3 minutes in the morning, and 3 minutes in the evening, sitting comfortably and inhaling and exhaling through your nose, with your mouth closed, and your eyes closed, you would significantly improve your health over time. The key to this is doing it every day. Every day. Don’t have 6 minutes to breathe some of your own FREE breath? I’m probably not the person to help ya then!
2. “Drink it all in” – water is your friend
and this simple liquid can work wonders. We often mistake dehydration for hunger, sugar cravings, and fatigue. Sipping room temperature water throughout the day is a great way to give yourself a healthy, FREE health boost.
3. “Be a professional” – you have the power of choice to take yourself, your work, and your life seriously. (But not too seriously ;-p). But in all seriousness (hardy har), it’s your life to live and I firmly believe you should freaking love it! You deserve to be happy and healthy; that’s not selfish. It feels good, sure, but beyond that immediate pleasure, being healthy empowers you to function at peak performance and have better relationships in all areas of you life.
Self-care is not selfish. You’re kidding yourself if you think being healthy is a nice to have, and if you don’t want to take my word for it, there’s gobs of hard core western science backing this claim up.
“When we turn pro, everything becomes simple. … It changes what time we get up and it changes when we go to bed. It changes what we do and what we don’t do. It changes the activities we engage in and with what attitude we engage in them. It changes what we read and what we eat. It changes the shape of our bodies.”
– Steven Pressfield, Turning Pro
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Want a more in-depth, hands-on experience with Sarah and her team so you can truly implement self-care tactics at home as part of your healthy lifestyle? Then join Sarah, Kate Hendricks PhD(c), and Dr Theresa Larson DPT in January for their Just Roll With It Costa Rica Yoga & Adventure Retreat. You have two weeks to choose from, but spots are going fast, so contact Sarah ASAP to reserve your spot!:)
4-10 January 2014
11-17 January 2014
Get your New Year rollin’ right!:)
Namaste,
Sarah
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